Friday 12/9
I got ready and headed out to
LAX, timing it so that I would get to the
Renaissance LAX hotel parking structure right at 5 am. After I parked my car, I took the elevator down to the lobby. When I went to go wait for the shuttle to the airport terminals, I saw that there was already a large group of people gathered and waiting there. That shuttle was pretty packed when we got everyone onboard.
Parked at the Renaissance LAX Hotel
I got dropped off at the
Tom Bradley International Terminal aka
terminal B. I was wondering if the people in charge were wanting to drop the Bradley name. After getting through TSA security check, I stopped at the
Starbucks in the Great Hall to pick up breakfast. Even though I had placed my order on the mobile app, it took a long while before my drink and food came out. Once I got my food, I started on what turned out to be a rather long walk over to the west gates. I stopped about halfway at a table in front of Santouka to eat my breakfast. I didn't realize that they had this ramen shop here!
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Salted caramel cream cold brew
Bacon, sausage, and egg wrap
It was a pretty open flight on my Hawaiian Airlines flight out to
Kahului Airport (OGG) in Maui. There were many open seats all around me. When I was first booking my flight back in mid-June through my timeshare portal, I had selected and paid for a direct flight out to Honolulu. However, about a month and a half later, I was notified that I hadn't paid enough for the direct flight. Uh, I paid exactly what was listed on the website. I thought that it should've been an error in my favor, but they had me take this other flight that would take me out to Maui for a very short layover. Whatever... just as long as I get to Honolulu on time to make the expo. During that first leg out to Maui, I caught a few episodes of
A.P. Bio. It wasn't as funny as I had hoped it would be. Both Glenn Howerton and Patton Oswalt weren't as funny as some of their other work. Based on these episodes, I won't be putting this series on my to-watch list.
Seat 21C
Cheddar cheese and pork/bacon bagel roll
Flight path
Almost to Maui
Cookie before landing
After getting off of the plane and using the restroom, it was a short wait for the 2nd leg of trip into Honolulu. It was a very short flight on a Boeing 717. It was so short, that the flight attendants were distributing drinks in prepackaged cups. The plane landed at
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport at just after 2 pm.
Boeing 717
Heading to Honolulu
Per the usual routine, I used the restroom after getting off of the plane. I then headed over to the bus stop to wait for the number 20 bus that would take me into Waikiki. This time, the HOLO card worked when I used it to pay for the bus fare.
Waiting for the #20 bus
I got off of the bus at Ala Moana Center and walked over to the
Hawaii Convention Center to pick up my race packet for both the marathon and the Kalakaua Merrie Mile. Besides picking up the bibs, the expo was pretty lackluster and rather small. I'm guessing that they're still having a hard time getting vendors to return post COVID. I did bump into a familiar face as I was getting ready to leave. We chatted a bit before we went our separate ways.
Kalakaua Merrie Mile shirt
Back of Kalakaua Merrie Mile shirt
50th Honolulu Marathon sticker
After leaving the convention center, I started my walk over to the nearby
Waikiki Marina Resort at the Ilikai. Along the way, I stopped at the
ABC Superette to pick up some drinks for the weekend. I bought 2 1.5 L bottles of water and a bottle of Gatorade.
Drinks from ABC
Since I've stayed at this property once before, I knew where to go to check into my room. The lady that checked me in was nice and friendly. I was thinking that she thought I was weird for turning down beach towels after telling her that I wouldn't be needing them since I hated sand. She ended up recommending places in Hawaii where I could get to the water without having to deal with sand. Although it was technically a Wyndham property, thankfully, I wasn't pestered to attend some owner update. I was assigned unit #715.
For dinner, I went to the
McDonald's across the street. I ordered ahead on the mobile app for 2 Quarter pounders with cheese while using one of their BOGO deals. I decided to eat it there so I don't accumulate too much trash in my unit.
Quarter pounder with cheese x2
Back at my room, I went through my race packet and laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's 1 mile race before taking a shower and calling it a night. I decided to go with my orange Revel Big Bear shirt to match my orange socks and orange shoes.
Kalakaua Merrie Mile flat runner
I woke up early to catch the Morocco v. Portugal match as I got ready. I thought that it was incredibly annoying to hear the Moroccan fans whistle every time Portugal had possession of the ball. Normally, fans do that if an opposing player committed a horrible tackle or if they just want the ref to end the half/match during stoppage time. No, this was just nonstop whistling. Morocco managed to get a goal just before the end of the first half. As soon as the half ended, I headed out the door for the race. That match would end with Morocco knocking out Portugal with that very goal, 1-0.
Per the usual, I jogged over to the start line near Kapiolani Park. I made sure to take it really easy. It was already warm enough in Honolulu, so I didn't need much exertion to get my muscles warmed up. As I got to the start line, I spotted one of my running friends that I usually see at my races. However, I didn't expect to see her here. Lately, she has been working on completing a marathon in all 50 States and this weekend, she would be completing the State of Hawaii.
Kalakaua Merrie Mile start line
According to Garmin, It looked like I went out at about a 5:30 min per mile pace. While I liked that my legs can still move that fast, I knew that I didn't have the lungs to currently support that pace having just recently recovered from a bout of COVID. Eventually, I settled back to a flat 7 min per mile pace. That was fine since I only wanted to break 7 minutes. However, when I made the u-turn, I felt gassed. My breathing had become really labored and my legs started to feel rubbery. I'm guessing that not enough oxygen was getting to my legs. So instead of passing stragglers, I ended up being one of those stragglers that people passed during the final quarter mile.
Kalakaua Merrie Mile: 7:14
Click
here for my Garmin data.
Kalakaua Merrie Mile finish line
After I got my medal and some post race goodies, I hung out with a few of my friends until it was time to watch the professionals run in the elite race. Once both the elite women and men ran by, we went our separate ways. I wanted to get back to my room in time to catch the England v. France match.
Kalakaua Merrie Mile post race goodies
Marcia
Blue dinosaur
More dinosaur
Kalakaua Merrie Mile elite women
Elite women just after the turnaround
Elite men just after the turnaround
France v. England
17' Tchouaméni scored a lucky ass goal to the left lower corner from outside the box. Pickford dove to try and save it, but it was just out of reach.
With England down 1-0 at the half, I headed across the street to pick up breakfast at McDonald's. I used the mobile app deal to get a free medium coffee to go with my favorite local deluxe platter. If they had this on the mainland, I would eat it every day!
McDonald's
They switched to a paper container
Local deluxe platter with free medium coffee
52' Saka was fouled inside the box with a penalty awarded. Kane took the penalty against his Tottenham teammate, Lloris and hits cleanly into the top left side of the goal.
Harry Kane
Kane takes a PK against Spurs teammate, Lloris
81' Mount was blatantly pushed down in the back by Hernandez while inside the box. Not sure why the ref didn't call a penalty right away. It wasn't as if his view of the foul was blocked. It took a VAR check for the penalty to be awarded. Kane took the penalty again and was aiming for the same spot as the first one. However, Lloris guessed it correctly and Kane skied the ball over the crossbar. :(
England ended up losing 1-2. Once again, I had picked them to win the World Cup, but they came up short. :(
For dinner, I went back to McDonald's again. I used the same mobile app BOGO deal to once again get 2 Quarter pounders with cheese for the price of one. I then laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's marathon.
Monarch
Ladybug and former kwami owner, Jeanne d'Arc
Quarter pounder with cheese x2
Marathon flat runner
I got ready and headed out at about 3:30 am. I walked over to the Ala Moana Park restroom that was located past the start line at Queen St. From Ala Moana Blvd, I veered onto Ala Moana Park Dr. During my walk, I noticed 2 things that were different. They might had moved the bus drop off to a different location. I didn't see a single bus drop people off on Ala Moana Park Dr. They moved the portapotties to the parking lot just south of the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. That was definitely a better location versus having them on the uneven wet grass.
I didn't see any of the locals that I knew at this restroom. As 4:30 am approached, I used one of the urinals and headed over to the start line. I first entered the starting corral on the southern side of Ala Moana Blvd. However, the announcer informed us that the northern lanes were significantly less crowded. I went up to the start line to look for familiar faces. I found a fellow perfect Dopey runner. I ended up hanging out with him until the start of the race. In hindsight, I probably should've moved back as there were some really fast runners! Normally, I start off pretty fast, but I made sure not to this time.
Marathon start line
A selfie before heading inside the starting corral
Perfect Dopey Ted at the start line
Jon at the corner of Kaiulani Ave and Kalakaua Ave, almost to mile 6
Batman, almost to mile 10
Ted
Sailor Moon
The Flying Hawaiian!
Sherry, almost to mile 21
Pika Pika! Just after reaching mile 22
Honolulu Marathon: 5:45:47
Click
here for my Garmin data
Finish line
That turned out to be a bit rougher than I had expected. I couldn't even manage to run much of the downhill to Kapiolani Park. That's usually the section that I look forward to at this race. Although it was a crampy jog over the finish line, it felt good to finish the race! I received my finisher medal and got a few handfuls of water from the finish line showers to splash the salt off of my face.
Finisher medal side 1
Finisher medal side 2
I then followed the crowd of finishers to where they were distributing the finisher shirts. Coincidentally, I bumped into a couple of fellow Marathon Maniacs here just after picking up my shirt. We chatted a bit concerning the difficulties of the course before we started heading over to the line for post race goodies. The line was long, but it was moving. We were given a malasada, a banana, and a can of coconut water. With our hands full of goodies, we started heading our separate ways.
Finisher shirt side 1
Finisher shirt side 2
Marathon Maniacs
Post race malasada, banana, coconut water
Honolulu Police Dept Waikiki Station
I got back to my unit at about 11:45 am. I didn't have too much time to rest as my old church friend that I had seen at around mile 6, wanted to meet up. Originally, we were planning to meet up for dinner, but the restaurant that I had in mind appeared to not be open today. So we settled with lunch. We decided to get some ramen. I jumped in the shower before heading over to
Camado Ramen Tavern to meet up with him. I remembered that this location used to be
Kimukatsu. Too bad it eventually closed (3/29/2016) as they served some delicious tonkatsu. After looking over the menu, I ordered their ajitama tonkotsu ramen and a mini mapo tofu bowl. The food was good and it was good catching up with him.
Camado Ramen Tavern
Mini mapo tofu bowl
Ajitama tonkotsu ramen
Back at my room, I vegged out and took a nap before I barely summoned the strength and will to roll out of bed to go pick up dinner from the McDonald's across the street. Once again, I used the mobile app to get 2 Quarter pounders with cheese BOGO deal.
Quarter pounder with cheese x2
I woke up at about 3 am which was my usual wake up time of 5 am back home. However, I continued to lay in bed until about 5 am before turning on the morning news and beginning my morning routine. At about 6:30 am, I went across the street to get the Local deluxe platter with free medium coffee for one last time.
Local deluxe platter with free medium coffee
After checking out just before 10 am, I started my walk to the Hawaii Convention Center to go pick up my finisher certificate and results paper. First, I walked across the street to the ABC store to see how much a bag of 100% Kona coffee beans would cost. It was about $36 versus $19.99 listed on the Target app. I made a mental note to swing by Target later. After getting up to the 4th floor of the convention center, I got in a very long line to pick up my finisher certificate. The line was pretty much in a shape of a figure eight, so there were 2 volunteers controlling the line where it intersected. Some assholes decided that they weren't going to bother with the line and just headed straight inside. The volunteers eventually saw what was happening and quickly stopped others that tried to follow those assholes. I saw a few familiar faces while waiting in that line. I only picked up my certificate and the paper. I didn't bother going through the merchandise area. It was pretty cool that about 80% of me made it on page 5 of the results paper.
I then walked over to
Target to buy a bag of coffee to take home for my coworkers. Unfortunately, they were all out of 100% Kona coffee. All they had were 10% Kona blends. I decided to walk over to the nearby
Walmart to check what they had to offer. It took a while to find a bag, but they did have a few bags of whole bean 100% Kona coffee. I normally buy the Lion brand, but this time I had to settle for the Royal Hawaiian brand. It was about $10 cheaper than buying it at an ABC store or at one of the airport stores.
I normally buy Lion brand 100% Kona, but no whole beans
Whole bean 100% Kona, but decaf
Found a few bags of Royal Hawaiian whole bean 100% Kona
I then walked over to Ala Moana Center to eat my last meal before heading to the airport. I decided to get a loco moco at the
Liliha Bakery. It was tucked inside Macy's on the 4th floor. That kind of reminded me of back when there was a Zippy's tucked inside Sears. There was a wait for a table, but I was able to skip that and get a seat at the bar. It seemed a bit weird to pay over $20 for a plate of loco moco, but hey, I'm in Hawaii and no thanks to the out of control inflation.
This way to Liliha Bakery
Entrance on 4th floor of Macy's
Sitting at the counter
Liliha Bakery
Grilled butter rolls with jelly
Loco moco
After I finished and paid for my meal, I headed over to the bus stop to catch a ride to the airport. Getting through the TSA screening seemed to have gotten easier. It definitely wasn't as crowded. I was a bit disappointed that my flight was at one of the older gates, C2. I was hoping that it would be out of the newer and much more modern Mauka Concourse. I was a bit thirsty while waiting for my flight, so I stopped by the adjacent
Starbucks to get a quick drink. Instead of my usual cold brew coffee, I went with an iced black tea lemonade. It was pretty expensive, but refreshing.
Starbucks near gate C2
Iced black tea lemonade
Kona Volcano 100% Kona Coffee, maybe worth the extra $10 for the container
I finally caught
Bullet Train during my flight home. If you like John Wick, but with better acting and less gun porn, you'll most likely enjoy this one. It was a clever and entertaining movie. Sure Brad Pitt put in solid work in this one, but the duo of Lemon and Tangerine was the brighter spot in this movie. They were totally hilarious as a pair. That was a good example of brilliant dialogue which is sorely lacking in a lot of movies being put out these days.
Seat 43C
Chicken parm and artichoke bagel roll
Bullet train
Cookie before landing
My flight landed at LAX just before 11 pm. It took a while to get outside of the terminal coming from the west gates. It also didn't help that I was sitting way in the back of the plane. Thankfully, it was a short wait for the Renaissance hotel shuttle. The driver was pretty cool. He thought I had been waiting long and kept apologizing. After being dropped off, I stopped at the valet counter to get my parking ticket validated. The guy saw that I had a Tottenham cap, so he struck up a conversation with me about football while he took care of my parking ticket. I thought he might have been an Arsenal fan, but he told me that he was a Barcelona fan. We commiserated a bit over the current status of our perspective teams. It's always good to talk to another football fan regardless of the team that we support.
